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Theater Listings for Sept. 27-Oct. 3

Fetch Clay, Make Man The relationship between Muhammad Ali (a vibrant Ray Fisher, left, with K. Todd Freeman) and the actor known as Stepin Fetchit (the fine Mr. Freeman) is the focus of Will Power’s play about how the two men struggled to shape their identities — and make their names — in the face of sometimes invidious social pressures. Des McAnuff directs the sleekly designed production (2:05). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 460-5475, nytw.org. (Charles Isherwood)Credit
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Approximate running times are in parentheses. Theaters are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of current productions, additional listings, showtimes and ticket information are at nytimes.com/theater. A searchable, critical guide to theater is at nytimes.com/events.

Previews and Openings

‘Bad Jews’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) The wonderful Tracee Chimo (“Circle Mirror Tranformation,” “Bachelorette”), as well as Philip Ettinger, Molly Ranson and Michael Zegen, have returned for the remounting of this play, which appeared Off Off Broadway last year at Roundabout Underground’s Black Box Theater. Ms. Chimo gives a sensational performance in Joshua Harmon’s work, portraying a smart, funny and seriously abrasive young woman who is embroiled in a dispute with her cousin over who is entitled to a family heirloom (1:40). Laura Pels Theater at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Manhattan, (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheater.org. (Charles Isherwood)

‘Betrayal’ (previews start on Tuesday; opens on Oct. 27) After his searing revival of “Death of a Salesman” two seasons ago with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Mike Nichols returns with another powerhouse cast, this time to dig deep into the deceptions and stinging disclosures of Harold Pinter’s 1978 drama about infidelity. Inspired by the playwright’s own seven-year extramarital affair, it uses reverse chronology to trace the unraveling of the adulterous triangle. The offstage husband and wife Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz star as the married couple, with Rafe Spall as the interloper. Ethel Barrymore Theater, 243 West 47th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (David Rooney)

‘Big Fish’ (in previews; opens on Oct. 6) Among the season’s more intriguing projects, this musicalization of the 2003 Tim Burton film — about a young man trying to sift through his father’s extremely unreliable stories — garnered rave reviews during its Chicago engagement this spring. Norbert Leo Butz, Kate Baldwin and Bobby Steggert lead the cast; Andrew Lippa (“The Addams Family”) wrote the music and lyrics; and Susan Stroman (who gave Mr. Butz his big break in “Thou Shalt Not”) is the director and choreographer. Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street, (866) 870-2717, bigfishthemusical.com. (Eric Grode)

‘Bike America’ (in previews; opens on Tuesday) Kitchen-sink drama does not appear to be the default mode for Mike Lew, who was last seen giving global finance a madcap spin in 2010’s “Microcrisis.” That was produced by Ma-Yi Theater Company, as is this new piece about a young woman’s cross-country bike trip. This time Mr. Lew has set his play in all 48 contiguous states. Theater at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101, ma-yitheatre.org. (Grode)

‘Bronx Bombers’ (in previews; opens on Oct. 8) With football (“Lombardi”) and basketball (“Magic/Bird”) out of the way, Eric Simonson has turned his attention to the great American pastime. And has broadened his scope to cover the entire history of the New York Yankees, from the Babe to Lou to Yogi to the Mick to Reggie to Derek. (If you need last names to make sense of the previous sentence, this is perhaps not the show for you.) The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, (646) 223-3010, dukeon42.org. (Grode)

‘The Film Society’ (in previews; opens on Tuesday) The Keen Company has earned a reputation for salvaging nearly forgotten works by the likes of Thornton Wilder and Robert Anderson. Now it is focusing on someone a bit more contemporary: Jon Robin Baitz, who’s still going strong with plays like “Other Desert Cities.” His first New York revival, fittingly, is of his first play produced in New York, a 1988 drama set in a South African school for boys. The company’s artistic director, Jonathan Silverstein, will direct Euan Morton and Roberta Maxwell. Clurman Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, keencompany.org. (Grode)

‘Fun Home’ (previews start on Monday; opens on Oct. 22) Jeanine Tesori (“Caroline, or Change”) and Lisa Kron (“Well”) have both displayed an original grasp of family dynamics. Following a test-drive as part of last season’s Public Lab series, this new musical with a score by Ms. Tesori and book and lyrics by Ms. Kron gets a full production under the direction of Sam Gold. Based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel, the show takes a probing journey with the author, triggered by the sudden death of her father, back through her childhood at the family funeral home. The nine-member ensemble includes Michael Cerveris, Judy Kuhn, Beth Malone and Alexandra Socha. Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Rooney)

‘I Came to Look for You on Tuesday’ (in previews; opens on Monday) Glimpsed through the eyes of a grown woman who survived a tsunami as a child (because of her mother’s sacrifice), this new play by Chiori Miyagawa (“I Have Been to Hiroshima Mon Amour”) uses 8 actors to portray 20 characters who have all suffered similar losses. It draws from salons that Ms. Miyagawi and her director, Alice Reagan, convened over several years on the topic of reunions. La MaMa, 74A East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 475-7710, lamama.org. (Grode)

‘Julius Caesar’ (previews start on Thursday; opens on Oct. 9) The last time the actress Harriet Walter and the director Phyllida Lloyd collaborated on a New York stage was on the Broadway transfer of “Mary Stuart,” a bracing reappraisal of Friedrich Schiller’s drama that originated at the Donmar Warehouse in London. From that same fertile incubator comes this all-female production of another classic tragedy of political chicanery, which promises to be one of the highlights of a fall season stuffed with Shakespeare. Relocated to a women’s prison, it stars the formidable Ms. Walter as the corrupted Brutus, with Frances Barber as the doomed Roman leader of the title. St. Ann’s Warehouse, 29 Jay Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn, (718) 254-8779, stannswarehouse.org. (Rooney)

‘Lady Day’ (in previews; opens on Thursday) Not to be confused with “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” (the 1980s Off Broadway play with music) or “Lady Sings the Blues” (the 1970s movie with music), this is the latest fictionalized treatment of one of jazz’s greatest and most tormented performers, Billie Holiday. Expect to hear over two dozen Holiday standards, this time performed by the Grammy- and Tony-winning Dee Dee Bridgewater (“The Wiz”). Little Shubert Theater, 422 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, ladydaythemusical.com. (Grode)

‘The Landing’ (previews start on Thursday; opens on Oct. 23) “The Scottsboro Boys,” one of the composer John Kander’s final works with his longtime creative partner Fred Ebb, had its debut at the Vineyard. Collaborating with a new book writer and lyricist, Greg Pierce, Mr. Kander returns to the same downtown location for the premiere of a new musical, directed by Walter Bobbie. David Hyde Pierce and Julia Murney head the cast of this trio of thematically linked stories of desire, love and loss. Vineyard Theater, 108 East 15th Street Street, Manhattan, (212) 353-0303, vineyardtheatre.org. (Rooney)

‘The Model Apartment’ (in previews; opens on Oct. 15) “This isn’t your bubbe’s Holocaust play,” Donald Margulies said recently of this piece, which he wrote in the 1980s. Not unless your bubbe is partial to an older couple abandoning their morbidly obese, mentally ill daughter and spinning tales of befriending Anne Frank. The play earned strong reviews but had an abbreviated run in 1995 when Primary Stages first presented it in New York; now the company is having another go at it, this time with Mark Blum and Kathryn Grody as the central couple. 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-4200, 59e59.org. (Grode)

‘A Night With Janis Joplin’ (in previews; opens on Oct. 10) If recent onstage exposures to the sounds of Motown, Dusty Springfield and the Beatles haven’t whetted your appetite for a rougher strain of 1960s rock ’n’ roll, this new musical promises a concentrated dose of psychedelic soul. A blues singer from Cleveland, Mary Bridget Davies will make her Broadway debut as the title character, whose formidable reputation hinges on a three-year window that yielded songs like “Piece of My Heart,” “Mercedes Benz” and “Me and Bobby McGee.” Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Grode)

★ ‘The Norwegians’ (reopens on Thursday) There is every chance that C. Denby Swanson wrote this odd, dark, profane comedy — about really sweet Scandinavian hit men in Minnesota and the young women who hire them — after falling asleep during “Fargo.” But this low-budget guilty pleasure, which was a hit this spring and returns with the original cast, delivers solid laughs while making fun (in mostly nice ways) of various ethnicities and American states (1:30). Drilling Company Theater, 236 West 78th Street, Manhattan, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com. (Anita Gates)

‘100 (Monologues)’ (previews start on Tuesday; opens on Wednesday) It’s been a while since New York theatergoers got a close encounter with the unadulterated acid wit and incisive social commentary of Eric Bogosian. To mark the publication of the charismatic motormouth monologuist’s new book of the same name, Labyrinth Theater Company presents Mr. Bogosian performing a shuffle-mode playlist selected from his most celebrated works, including “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll,” “Pounding Nails in the Floor With My Forehead” and “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee.” Bank Street Theater, 155 Bank Street, West Village, (212) 513-1080, labtheater.org. (Rooney)

‘Romeo and Juliet’ (previews start on Saturday; opens on Oct. 16) While Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad continue to lock lips in Shakespeare’s swooning suicide pact on Broadway, Classic Stage Company offers an alternative take on the romantic tragedy. The indie-film darling Elizabeth Olsen (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”) and Julian Cihi, a newcomer fresh from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, play the star-cross’d lovers in Tea Alagic’s production, with an ensemble that also includes T. R. Knight, Daniel Davis and Daphne Rubin-Vega. Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street, (212) 352-3101, classicstage.org. (Rooney)

‘Sarah Flood in Salem Mass’ (in previews; opens on Oct. 6) Anyone familiar with Adriano Shaplin’s verbally dazzling works for the Riot Group and Pig Iron will know that this take on the events leading up to the Salem witch trials is unlikely to be confused with “The Crucible.” Expect the Flea’s acting company, the Bats (22 of them this time), to be put through their paces. Flea Theater, 41 White Street, TriBeCa, (212) 352-3101, theflea.org. (Grode)

‘The Seagull’ (previews start on Thursday; opens on Oct. 13) Max Stafford-Clark directs the Irish playwright Thomas Kilroy’s 1981 adaptation of this Chekhov, set in late 19th-century Ireland against the backdrop of the National Land League, a political movement that aimed to abolish landlordism and fight for the rights of poor tenant farmers. Trudie Styler heads a cast that includes Alan Cox and Amanda Quaid in this Culture Project presentation. Lynn Redgrave Theater at the Culture Project, 45 Bleecker Street, at Lafayette Street, East Village, (866) 811-4111, cultureproject.org. (Rooney)

‘The Snow Geese’ (previews start on Tuesday; opens on Oct. 24) Sharr White provided a superlative vehicle for Laurie Metcalf last season in “The Other Place.” Returning to Manhattan Theater Club, the playwright aims to do the same for Mary-Louise Parker with the premiere of this drama about a widow who gathers her family in upstate New York for an annual shooting party to mark the start of hunting season, while World War I rages abroad. Daniel Sullivan directs an ensemble that also includes Danny Burstein, Victoria Clark, Evan Jonigkeit and Christopher Innvar. Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street, (212) 399-3050, manhattantheatreclub.com. (Rooney)

‘A Time to Kill’ (previews start on Saturday; opens on Oct. 20) The judge’s chambers will be occupied by Fred Dalton Thompson, the former senator who knows his way around a courtroom from his years on “Law & Order.” But the marquee name is that of the best-selling author John Grisham, whose debut legal thriller about a racially charged murder trial that stirs up unrest in a Mississippi township has been adapted for the stage by Rupert Holmes. Sebastian Arcelus, John Douglas Thompson, Tom Skerritt, Patrick Page and Tonya Pinkins also appear in the production, directed by Ethan McSweeny. John Golden Theater, 252 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, atimetokillonbroadway.com. (Rooney)

‘The Winslow Boy’ (in previews; opens on Oct. 17) Terence Rattigan has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence lately on both screen (“The Deep Blue Sea”) and stage. The Roundabout Theater, which presented Rattigan’s “Man and Boy” with Frank Langella in 2011, is now tackling his 1946 drama about a family rallying around one of its younger members. Roger Rees and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio lead a starry cast that also includes Alessandro Nivola and Michael Cumpsty. American Airlines Theater, 227 West 42nd Street, (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org. (Grode)

Broadway

‘Annie’ James Lapine’s revival of the singing comic strip from 1977 is merely serviceable. But its smiley-faced mixture of hope and corn scratches an itch in a city recovering from a recession and a hurricane. Theatergoers may occasionally feel the urge both to mist up and throw up, but Lilla Crawford is a nigh irresistible Orphan Annie. With Anthony Warlow and Faith Prince as Miss Hannigan (2:25). Palace Theater, 1564 Broadway, at 47th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Ben Brantley)

‘First Date’ The winning Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez star in this cliché-ridden romantic comedy, with a book by Austin Winsberg and a score by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Mr. Levi is the nice Jewish boy who’s had his heart kicked around, Ms. Rodriguez a boho chick with lots of experience. They’re all wrong for each other, right? Sorry, but no prizes will be given for guessing how this familiar story ends (1:30). Longacre Theater, 220 West 48th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

★ ‘Kinky Boots’ Cyndi Lauper has created a love-and-heat-seeking score that performs like a pop star on Ecstasy. This Harvey Fierstein-scripted tale of lost souls in the shoe business, in which a young factory owner (Stark Sands) teams up with a drag queen (Billy Porter), sometimes turns into a sermon. But it’s hard to resist the audience-hugging charisma of the songs (2:20). Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

★ ‘Matilda the Musical’ The most satisfying and subversive musical ever to come out of Britain. Directed by Matthew Warchus, with a book by Dennis Kelly and addictive songs by Tim Minchin, this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel is an exhilarating tale of empowerment, told from the perspective of that most powerless group, little children (2:35). Shubert Theater, 225 West 44th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Motown: The Musical’ A dramatically slapdash but musically vibrant joy ride through the glory days of the Detroit music label founded by Berry Gordy. Mr. Gordy’s book is sketchy and obvious — you want to plug your ears whenever the music stops. But the music is, of course, some of the greatest R&B ever recorded, and the performers mostly electric (2:40). Lunt-Fontanne Theater, 205 West 46th Street, (877) 250-2929, ticketmaster.com. (Isherwood)

‘Pippin’ Diane Paulus sends in the acrobats for her exhaustingly energetic revival of Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson’s 1972 musical starring Patina Miller. As for the 99-pound story at the center of this muscle-bound spectacle — the one about the starry-eyed son of Charlemagne (Matthew James Thomas) — that’s there too, if you look hard (2:35). Music Box Theater, 239 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

Cinderella’ This ultimate and most enduring of makeover stories, via the team who gave us “Oklahoma!,” has been restyled by the director Mark Brokaw and the writer Douglas Carter Beane into a glittery patchwork of snark and sincerity, with a whole lot of fancy ball gowns. Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana are the appealing leading lovers (2:20). Broadway Theater, 1681 Broadway, at 53rd Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

‘Romeo and Juliet’ The chemistry between Orlando Bloom, in a fine Broadway debut, and Condola Rashada in the title roles of David Leveaux’s production is more aesthetic than erotic. They seem like too-pretty-for-this-world porcelain figurines that you know are doomed to shatter. While this approach more or less works for the first half, the production’s tragedies are woefully unfocused (2:15). Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 West 46th Street, (800) 745-3000, ticketmaster.com. (Brantley)

‘Soul Doctor’ The story of Shlomo Carlebach (Eric Anderson), the folk-singing rabbi who made a splash in the 1960s (and befriended Nina Simone, played by the elegant Amber Iman), makes for an odd and mostly hackneyed musical, despite the use of his often lovely music, set to overly drippy lyrics by David Schechter and a similar book by the director, Daniel S. Wise (2:30). Circle in the Square Theater, 1633 Broadway, at 50th Street, (800) 432-7780, telecharge.com. (Isherwood)

‘The Trip to Bountiful’ Michael Wilson’s slow-handed staging of Horton Foote’s 1953 drama about an old woman’s journey into the past is most notable for its remarkable star, Cicely Tyson, who seems thoroughly rejuvenated by her return to Broadway. The supporting cast includes Vanessa Williams, Leon Addison Brown and Adepero Oduye (2:10). Stephen Sondheim Theater, 124 West 43rd Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Brantley)

Off Broadway

‘Arguendo’ Elevator Repair Service’s stylized re-enactment of a Supreme Court case (about nude dancing as a first amendment right) is so wittily inventive it makes you think they could bring theatrical life to the Pittsburgh phone directory. If the show, directed by John Collins, has its inevitable tedious patches, its thematic depths keep expanding when you think about it afterward (1:20). Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, publictheater.org. (Brantley)

‘Around the World in 80 Days’ This stage version of the Jules Verne novel is an odd combination of steampunk and vaudeville. The actors’ shameless mugging grows annoying after a while, but the pace stays brisk and the energy level high (2:00). New Theater at 45th Street, 354 West 45th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, aroundtheworldinnyc.com. (Neil Genzlinger)

‘Bill W. and Dr. Bob’ Making the story of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous 99 percent preachiness-free is quite an accomplishment. Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey’s purpose-driven script, which never forgets the humor of the human experience, goes a long way toward making this a satisfying revival (2:15). SoHo Playhouse, 15 Van Dam Street, South Village, (866) 811-4111, billwanddrbob.com. (Gates)

★ ‘Breakfast With Mugabe’ To his critics in the West, the Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe is an election-rigger, a thug who uses past victimhood to justify further oppression. To Dr. Peric, a white psychiatrist, he is just another patient. That is the premise of Fraser Grace’s trenchant, magnificently acted play, inspired by news reports that Mr. Mugabe did seek counsel from a white psychiatrist despite his lifelong image as one opposed to white authority figures. What follows is less a cooperative, therapeutic relationship than an unwinking power struggle (1:30). Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theater, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200, breakfastwithmugabe.com. (Catherine Rampell)

‘Brendan at the Chelsea’ Adrian Dunbar gives a riveting performance in this fanciful take on the life of the Irish playwright, memoirist and hard-drinking hell-raiser Brendan Behan, set in the Chelsea Hotel during his stay there in the early 1960s. While it almost completely ignores Behan’s Irish-republican sympathies, the show presents a compelling, multidimensional rendering of an alcoholic’s twilight (2:00). Acorn Theater at Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Andy Webster)

★ ‘Buyer & Cellar’ Jonathan Tolins has concocted an irresistible one-man play from the most peculiar of fictitious premises — an underemployed Los Angeles actor goes to work in Barbra Streisand’s Malibu, Calif., basement — allowing the playwright to ruminate with delicious wit and perspicacity on the solitude of celebrity, the love-hate attraction between gay men and divas, and the melancholy that lurks beneath narcissism. In the capable hands of the director Stephen Brackett and the wickedly charming actor Michael Urie, this seriously funny slice of absurdist whimsy creates the illusion of a stage filled with multiple people, all of them with their own droll point of view (1:30). Barrow Street Theater, 27 Barrow Street, at Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 868-4444, smarttix.com. (Rooney)

‘Cougar the Musical’ Three older women find themselves attracted to younger men, two against their better judgment. The concept seems made for bus tours, but imagination, appealing numbers with original melodies and theme-transcending jokes lift this show well above the level of “Menopause: The Musical” and its ilk (1:30). Fridays and Saturdays only. St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Gates)

‘Cuff Me: The Fifty Shades of Grey Musical Parody’ What can I possibly say that isn’t said by the title of this production? Here’s one thing: It’s not exactly great theater, but I’d still rather see “Cuff Me” than read the novel upon which it’s based (1:30). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Claudia La Rocco)

‘Fetch Clay, Make Man’ The relationship between Muhammad Ali (a vibrant Ray Fisher) and the actor known as Stepin Fetchit (the fine K. Todd Freeman) is the focus of Will Power’s play about how the two men struggled to shape their identity — and make their names — in the face of sometimes invidious social pressures. Des McAnuff directs the sleekly designed production (2:05). New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village, (212) 460-5475, nytw.org. (Isherwood)

‘It’s Just Sex’ Jeff Gould’s lightweight comedy, a long-running hit in Los Angeles, is about three married couples whose party turns into an evening of spouse-swapping and postcoital navel-gazing (metaphorically). The cast is personable, but the script’s only deep thought is that if women were told they could talk only to one person for the rest of their lives, they would understand why sexual fidelity is so stifling for men (1:30). Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Gates)

‘A Man’s World’ Rachel Crothers’s examination of gender and sexual politics was written in 1910 — yet somehow, the more things change, the more they stay the same (2:10). Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 East Fourth Street, East Village, (800) 838-3006, metropolitanplayhouse.org. (La Rocco)

‘Me and Jezebel’ Kelly Moore (that’s Mr. Kelly Moore) is great fun to watch as Bette Davis in Elizabeth Fuller’s real-life “Man Who Came to Dinner” story. Too bad Ms. Fuller, who plays herself, isn’t really an actress. This comedy about a movie star taking over the guest room and the lives of a Connecticut family one month in 1985 is admirably self-deprecating (1:45). Snapple Theater Center, 210 West 50th Street, (212) 921-7862, ticketmaster.com. (Gates)

★ ‘Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play’ Anne Washburn’s tale of a day-after-tomorrow apocalypse, in which the world of Homer Simpson becomes the stuff of Homeric storytelling, is so smart it makes your head spin. By the end of Steve Cosson’s vertiginous production you’re likely to feel both exhilarated and exhausted by all the layers of time and thought you’ve traveled through (2:15). Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com. (Brantley)

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★ ‘Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812’ Dave Malloy’s transporting pop opera dramatizes an emotionally potent slice of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Rachel Chavkin directs a superb young cast who bring the loves and losses of 19th-century Russian aristocrats to vibrant, intimate life in a stylish cabaret setting. The production and its tent make the move from the meatpacking district to the theater district for a 14-week run (2:30). Kazino, West 45th Street, near Eighth Avenue, telecharge.com (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Old Friends’ This lively, previously unproduced potboiler about swinging, selfish Texans in the “Mad Men” era was written by, of all people, Horton Foote, the great, gentle chronicler of small-town Texas. Both more chaotic and trapped in its time than much of Foote, it benefits from an entertainingly juicy cast led by Lois Smith, Betty Buckley and Hallie Foote, directed by Michael Wilson (2:05). Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Brantley)

‘Philip Goes Forth’ This George Kelly play from 1931 is a traditional drawing room drama with comic elements, about a young man who rejects his life in business to pursue a career as a playwright in New York. After a creaky first act, the play starts to deepen and even surprise. The mostly superb cast in this Mint Theater production features an excellent Rachel Moulton as a poet, one of the world’s natural artists; and Natalie Kuhn, who breathes new life into the role of ingénue (2:15). Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton, (866) 811-4111, minttheater.org. (Rachel Saltz)

‘Unbroken Circle’ Marianne Tatum plays a born-again Christian with drinking and divorce habits in James Wesley’s comic drama. Too bad the production is uncertainly paced and a little unpolished, because this story of a 1970s Texas family dealing with the death of an abusive patriarch has a lot going for it (1:50). St. Luke’s Theater, 308 West 46th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. (Gates)

‘Women or Nothing’ The first full-length play by the filmmaker Ethan Coen feels like a short play (he’s written many) that has been heavily padded. Susan Pourfar and Halley Feiffer portray a lesbian couple who decide to trick a man into a sexual liaison in order to have a child. It’s an improbable conceit that the play’s intermittently tart humor — and fine direction by David Cromer — cannot disguise (1:45). Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street, Chelsea, (866) 811-4111, atlantictheater.org. (Isherwood)

‘You Never Can Tell’ This Pearl Theater Company revival of George Bernard Shaw’s subversive comedy of errors focusing on the Clandon clan may not deliver the sociopolitical punch that Shaw intended, but it is brightened by some strong performances, particularly those of Dan Daily as a wizened waiter and Zachary Spicer as his son, a smug barrister who has embarrassed his servant-class father by rising above his social status (2:15). Pearl Theater, 555 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 563-9261, pearltheatre.org. (Rampell)

Off Off Broadway

‘Avi Hoffman’s Still Jewish After All These Years’ Avi Hoffman’s 75 minutes of songs and reminiscences is sometimes no more than warm and cabaret-cozy, but it has its moments, like a powerful performance of “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” and a lovely tribute to his father (1:30). Stage 72, 158 West 72nd Street, (800) 838-3006, stage72.com. (Gates)

★ ‘Then She Fell’ Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” books, this transporting immersive theater work occupies a dreamscape where the judgments and classifications of the waking mind are suspended. A guided tour of Wonderland, created by Third Rail Projects, leads its participants through a series of rooms and an interactive evening of dance, poetry, food and drink (2:00). The Kingsland Ward at St. John’s, 195 Maujer Street, near Humboldt Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, (718) 374-5196, thenshefell.com. (Brantley)

‘Totally Tubular Time Machine’ This show is less a play or musical than a big, campy, drinking party, with a little bit of singing thrown in. Held at an ’80s-theme dance club in Midtown, it features celebrity impersonators who wander through the crowd handing out party favors (lollipops from Katy Perry, trucker hats from Justin Bieber) and taking turns at karaoke. The impersonations come with varying degrees of similitude and singing talent (2:00). Saturdays only. Culture Club, 20 West 39th Street, (212) 921-1999, totallytubularnyc.com. (Rampell)

★ ‘The Vaudevillians’ The drag performer Jinkx Monsoon (real name: Jerick Hoffer) and her accompanist, Major Scales (Richard Andriessen), turn a simple conceit into a hilarious evening. They are vaudeville performers who were frozen in an avalanche in the 1920s. Thawed out in the present, they find that many of their songs — “I Will Survive,” for instance — have been repurposed by more recent performers. They reclaim them, vaudeville style (1:25). Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Cafe, 407 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 352-3101, SpinCycleNYC.com. (Genzlinger)

‘The Berenstain Bears Live! In Family Matters, the Musical’ This adaptation of three of Stan and Jan Berenstain’s children’s books is pleasant enough, but the cubs are showing their age. Saturday and Sunday only (:55). Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 5 West 63rd Street, (866) 811-4111, berenstainbearslive.com.

‘Doña Flor y Sus Dos Maridos’ A Spanish-language adaptation (“Doña Flor and Her Two Husbands,” in English) of Jorge Amado’s novel, a sex farce with the clarity and logic of a folk tale and the spirit of a party (1:40). Sunday only. Repertorio Español at Gramercy Arts Theater, 138 East 27th Street, (212) 225-9920, repertorioespanol.com.

‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ This production, about the boy who became Peter Pan, is an enchanted anatomy of the urge to defy gravity (2:10). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com.

‘All the Faces of the Moon’ (closes on Thursday) The monologuist Mike Daisey performs 29 nights of original shows through Oct. 3, considering, among other things, the changing face of New York City and his own evolving life. An endurance test, for him and for those who join him on the journey, but definitely worth sampling for fans of his dark humor (each performance runs 1:15 to 1:30). Joe’s Pub, at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, at Astor Place, East Village, (212) 967-7555, joespub.com. (Isherwood)

‘Carcass’ (closes on Sunday) This bleak, bitter and pessimistic story follows a family whose members are at each others’ throats. The play offers dark rewards, but only for the most daring (and least squeamish) theatergoers (1:10). Here, 145 Avenue of the Americas, at Dominick Street, South Village, (212) 352-3101, newworldsproject.org. (Ken Jaworowski)

‘The Compass Rose’ (closes on Sunday) Ronan Noone’s play doesn’t really need its site specific setting — a bar on the Upper East Side — as much as it does a better script. It’s a love story between an Irish immigrant and spoiled American girl that never quite rings true (1:10). Ryan’s Daughter, 350 East 85th Street, Manhattan, 1stirish.org. (Saltz)

‘The Hill Town Plays’ (closes on Saturday) The ambitious Rattlestick Playwrights Theater presents five plays by Lucy Thurber, all set in economically depressed western Massachusetts, and focusing on the life of a young woman struggling to break her family’s pattern of dysfunction. The productions are consistently fine, though the ultimate vision of the plays is downbeat: the heroine escapes the cycle of poverty, but cannot shake the legacy of pain (various run times). Various locations, (866) 811-4111, theatervillage.com. (Isherwood)

‘McGoldrick’s Thread’ (closes on Sunday) A troupe of young step dancers adds to the sweetness of this good-hearted musical about a family of Irish immigrants living in the Bronx (1:40). Theater 80, 80 St. Marks Place, East Village, (800) 838-3006, mcgoldricksthread.com. (Jaworowski)

‘stop. reset.’ (closes on Sunday) A bewildering play, written and directed by Regina Taylor, about a black publishing company in Chicago facing financial troubles. Carl Lumbly portrays the proprietor, who may (or may not) be saved from making a tough choice by a young janitor (Ismael Cruz Córdova) with curious supernatural powers (1:45). Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, Clinton, (212) 244-7529, signaturetheatre.org. (Isherwood)

★ ‘The Two-Character Play’ (closes on Sunday) Playing strung-out sibling theater troupers in Tennessee Williams’s rarely seen fever dream of an eternal folie à deux, Amanda Plummer and Brad Dourif don’t just strike sparks. They’re a raging conflagration that keeps changing form and direction. Gene David Kirk directs this revival of a demented, messy and oddly affecting self-portrait from an American master (2:10). New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, Clinton, (212) 239-6200, telechargecom. (Brantley)